The Wash Debate: Will Billy Walk Alone?

Columnists, TV/radio pundits and bloggers who have the chops to write brilliant essays are rare — something like NHL players who are expert skaters. It’s a marvelous skill, but the way the game is played, success comes more easily to those who are great at checking their targets into the boards.

The people’s choice.

Ken Arneson at Catfish Stew (one blog title, two A’s nicknames!) can cruise the ice. This week, he made a fascinating post that ventures into the psychological differences between liberals and conservatives and the “top dog” values of major-league clubhouses before connecting it to whether the A’s should hire Ron Washington as manager. Unfortunately, after all that deft skating he veers away from a satisfying bone-jarring collision — his conclusion is too subtle to provide an answer.

If Billy Beane thinks he’s found the guy — the equivalent of the White Sox plucking the 35-year-old Tony La Russa out of nowhere in 1979 — OK, hire him and sink or swim with his results. But most likely it’s not that certain, it’s close between a few candidates. In that case, take Wash. If it works out, great — and with player support, it’s better than 50-50 that it will. If not, at least the franchise will given a great employee a shot and scored a point on Bud Selig’s affirmative-action managerial scorecard. And Billy, it’s no sign of weakness to realize there are times when you shouldn’t walk alone.